The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1887-04-08
The Egis & Intelligencer
Bel Air. Nd. April $. 1857.
HARTFORD COUNTY's REVOLUTION
AIRY RECORD.
Mostly from Original Documents.
BY G. W. ARCHER

There was no time probably no disposition
for electoral commissions in these stirring days:
end IL Is likely that II contests ever arose, the
Committee summarily disposed of them without
any such cumbersome contrvance, by a li-
rect vote OF its own members, from which here
was no appeal.
on the presumption-reason at lcas, until
the contrary Is prOvcd-that every man knows
how TO spell his own name, the autograph sigma
lures to these returns suggest some CORE ctions
of the clerks photography as elsewhere display
Cd Some of his mistakes arc trivial aud may
be parioned; but when he distorts the pltriotc
names, Lyle and DOnahcy, into Little and Dun
naby, our Indignation is reused against him al
most as deeply as our compassion is stirred for
his victims TO have ones good name trans
formed beyond recognition, aud paraded before
future generations as nOn-cntity-for II vittu-
ally makes him such-is enough to force a true
patrIot,-who had aided in getting upa revOu-
ton when livin2,-to make revolution in his
grave.
1t would be interesting. in this connection TO
trace out-were II possible to do so at this late
day-al the various divisions of the county into
century, aud The exact lines which defined them.
At the time when these returns were made there
were only the eight hundreds hcrenbeforc
named: but out OF these. soon afterwards. six
more were formed: nancy Hartford Town,
Hartford I PIPER, Deer Creek Middle. Eden, Broad
Creek and Gunpowder Upper. Their" is perhaps
no way Of asccrtaning even approximately the
metes and bounds of all of them; perhaps not of
n single one with entire accuracy. y rCmarka-
bic fact about the rc-arrangcments of the hun
dreis, as above referred to, is that one of the
new ones was called Eden, presumably in honor
OK the proprietary Governor. TO be sure, this
particular, hundred may possibly have been
considered IwheIe; -r was sttuatea-lhe very
paradise of Hartford. and may have received It's
name from that fact; but, then, one might sup
pose that the patriots would have been deferred
by prudential considerations, from mourning
even the suspicion Of dsloyalty inevitably i'm
piled by III" adoption of that name at such
momentous crisis.
know not how many Other divisions of the
county, IL any, were made down to l1gi 1t may,
however, interest m st of your readers to be in
formed that in that year, rs appears from "Ba-
cons Laws" the county was divided by act OF
Assembly INTO four districts designated by
numbers. The LIST District was composed OF
Deer Creek Upper, Middle and Lower, and Broad
Creek Hundreds; the "a, of Hartford Upper and
Lower, Spcsutia Lo" err. and Susquehanna Hun
Upper and Lower Hundreds; and the 4th, Of
GunEowdcr Upper and Lower. and Eden Hun
drcds. ltseems unaccountable thatin lheirpro
ceedings of the meeting OF the Committee on
9Th May, l7Ij the designation "Gunpowder
Lower" shouli have been used. inasmuch rs
there was then no Gunpowder Upper. But on
IN other hand the distinction may have been in
popular use prior to its legal establishment.
Certificates were made out lat this meeting
OF the l1th May to the delegates TO deliver in at
AT a Meeting of the Committee for Har.orl
county on Thursday, 18th May, were present .l3
namesI Mr.. John Matthews in the chair.
"ncforo the Committee proceeded to other
from the Maryland delegates at the Congress-
to postpone the meeting Of the provincial Con
venton-tO wit:
PHILADELPHIA. 18th May. i175.
To the Committee OF Correspondence for
Hartford county: Gent-As there will be no oc-
casion for holding II Convention Of our Province
the 22l inst, We snail be Obliged to you to notify
the same 10 the deputies for your county. We
may be necessary to have n meeting; but as soon
as we gan shall be careful to give me best no
tce of II. We are, Gcntlcmca,
Your most Obed't Servants.
MAT. TILGHMAS,.
tn JOHNSON, JUN'R,
Also the letters marked II and ~ were
read" The letter marked 'B' is not among
these PAPERS. a syn psis Of it was given in the
abridged proceedings published in 1876. The let
ter marked &c" is as follows:
Mr.. Aquila Hall: Sir.-Wc have sod 20 bar
rcls of the flour sent to us for the poor of Boston,
to our neighbr Mr.. Neill, at l206; but money Is
Wagons coming in, that we could not get the
money for it as yet aud we have such calls for
money we cannot advance II at present. We
suppose 1t may be got from Mr.. Nell in a few
days, when it shall be sent up. The rest Of the
Hour remains yet in store. There was four bar
Tcls received by Mr.. Carlislc's vessel which we
supp Sc Is that sent by DR.. Hall, you mention.
Your most h'ble Servants,
SAM l.. AND ROBT. PURVIANCE.
(which letters were ordered to be inscribed in
the minutes as the Proceedings of the Commit
tee"
1t has been said that throughout the Revolu-
ton these merchant brothers Purviance were
more relied on by Congress than almost any
other Marylanders to obtain ships and supplies
from Their State and that for the high position
Maryland occupied during those trying times
she was in a great measure indebted to Samuel
aud Robert Purviance.
"Motioned that some one be appointed as n
Committeeman in Bush River Upper Hundred,
in the room OF Thomas Bond, son of John, who
refuses to act.
'ReS0frGd, That as Thomas Bond, son of John,
refuses to serve as Committeeman in Bush
River Upper Hundred the inhabitants of said
Hundred do meet and elect person according
ly, and report to the next meeting of the Com
mittce ana that Mr.. Jacob Bond advertise the
Hundred to meet on Monday for the purpose Of
said election"